Slovenia has officially integrated open science into its national legal framework governing research activities (Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act, Decree on the Implementation of Scientific Research in Accordance with the Principles of Open Science). Moreover, an open science ecosystem is being established through initiatives outlined in the Action Plan for Open Science, which is an implementation tool for Chapter 6 of the Resolution on Scientific Research and Innovation Strategy of Slovenia 2030 (ReZrIS30).
Activities outlined in the Action Plan for Open Science will also receive funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan. This plan includes provisions for the digitization of education and science, namely:
- ensuring a stable and resilient intercity and optical connection for the research-education backbone network across at least 40 existing intercity and optical connections within the publicly owned research-education network (implemented by ARNES),
- establishment of two new operational data centers for storing research data and results to facilitate accessibility and reuse (implemented by ARNES),
- adaptation of twenty public research organizations to operate by the principles of open science.
As part of the project "Support for the Implementation of Open Science Principles in Slovenia" (SPOZNAJ), which has been selected for funding in the public tender of the Recovery and Resilience Plan titled "Adaptation of Public Research Organizations and the Central Technical Library at the University of Ljubljana to Operate According to the Principles of Open Science," the Central Technical Library at the University of Ljubljana and twenty public research organizations will align their operations with ReZrIS30, ZZrID, and the Decree on the Implementation of Scientific Research in Accordance with the Principles of Open Science. This alignment will ensure that their operations comply with the provisions regarding open science in the European Research Area. The project partners will conduct training sessions for various open science stakeholders, provide specialized training on handling FAIR and open-access research data, prepare a handbook on open science, and establish support mechanisms for open science within their respective organizations.
The project will greatly accelerate the adoption of open science practices among project partners and make a substantial contribution to the digital transformation of scientific research. Partners will collaborate to share knowledge and experiences related to implementing open science principles and disseminate them to public infrastructure institutes (IZUM, ARNES), public agencies (ARIS, NAKVIS), privately owned higher education and research institutes, researchers and experts from the commercial sector, private researchers, and the broader interested public. As a result, a significant portion of research findings in the form of publications will be accessible through Slovenian repositories, with increased public availability of research data anticipated as well.